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Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Juggalo feminism is real

We know that the Juggalos, those clown-faced, sign-throwing fans of horror-rap duo ICP, are a pretty progressive bunch. We heard it straight from the Juggalo’s mouth, in the form of a question to our own Vinnie Monastiere — aka “Mr. Juggalo.” We asked Monastiere if there were openly gay or lesbian Juggalos, and he was all like, “Well, sure. There are all walks of life, you know what I mean? No doubt about it. To each their own, and it's great that that is completely accepted.”

We just figured it was a given that Juggalos, many of whom hail from the underclass, would instinctively know that being picked on is a drag. It’s something you pick up so clearly from ninjas that we even momentarily believed that ICP had announced a Juggalo-Brony alliance. (That, of course, turned out to be satire.)

So when we heard of “Juggalo feminism,” we weren’t that surprised. It turns out it’s a real thing, and is having a real impact. A story on Vice by Mitchell Sunderland zooms in on the story of Rachel Paul, leader of a Juggalo feminist group called “Lette’s Respect.” Paul and her group successfully challenged the way a beauty pageant at the Gathering of the Juggalos was run. It used to be run by porn star Ron Jeremy, who’d ask contestants to perform vulgar acts on stage. Under Paul’s leadership, the pageant judged hopeful ’Lettes on their talent and spirit, and even made a place for nontraditional beauty.

It all goes to show just how progressive the Juggalo family can be. There’s room for everybody, but there are no chickens allowed.